Tokyo Ravens - Volume 13 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - Dissonance 
Part 1 
Her friends cheered one by one. Tenma and Suzuka continued cheering as Touji reapplied his seal. Akino gingerly peeked over, still hiding behind a stack of cardboard boxes. Kyouko, who had stopped her divination and looked over through the window upon hearing the noise, tearfully shouted "Ohtomo-sensei!". 
It was like a dream come true......! 
Natsume stared straight at Ohtomo. It was honestly like a dream for him to appear of his own initiative when they had basically given up hope of contacting him. 
"Hama! At ease. This is our friend." 
"Understood." 
Hama cut off its power as Tenma instructed. Ohtomo looked at Tenma and Hama thoughtfully. 
"Let me make sure I understand this. That rough-looking car over there is Tenma-kun's shikigami? It's quite complex - no, it's even composed of a spell I haven't really seen before." 
"Yeah, this is the mechanical shikigami my dad made." 
"Your dad? That's quite......" 
Kyouko also leaned out of the window from where she had been working. 
"Ohtomo-sensei, it's great that you're alright......" 
"You too. You've gone through a lot, Kyouko-kun." 
"Speaking of which, why didn't you contact us!? Do you understand the situation right now? Are you an idiot!?" 
"Hold on, Suzuka. First off, how did you find this place, Sensei?" 
"Ah, that. You guys fought the 'Colonel' in this huge car, and the Mystical Investigators hadn't gotten any reports that you abandoned it, so there could only be a few places in this city where you could be hiding out. And with Chief Amami the way he is, I thought it might be in this region." 
He got along great with them, as could be expected. Not only did he increase their side's fighting strength, but more importantly, he was a 'friend'. Also, he was Ohtomo-sensei, a former Divine General who had risked himself to save Natsume. 
Patter. Kyouko opened the door and hurried down. Amami followed with Suisen pushing his wheelchair. 
"Chief." Ohtomo bowed. "I hope you're doing well." 
"......I am." A quiet smile. "Let's enter the main topic. You definitely understand our situation to some degree. You've heard the terrorist attack announcement, of course?" 
"That's why I hurried here to help." 
"Yeah. Can you get in touch with Kogure?" 
"You want to get him to defect? I feel like that depends on how Harutora-kun presents himself......" 
"Not necessarily. Actually, it's possible for me to go convince him directly. After all, that guy saw me two years ago in that park......" 
The conversation between the two of them continued pleasantly without any sentiment about their long-awaited reunion. The topic jumped around rapidly. In this kind of situation, both sides needed to understand the meaning of the other party's words several steps ahead. The atmosphere in the warehouse became tense as everyone watched their conversation. 
"But Chief, we have no chance of winning in a straight-up fight against Zenjirou, you know? After all, Independent Officer Miyachi's on the other side." 
"Hmph. That chance only applies to a fight of magic. Get Kogure over to our side is much easier." 
"A war of information, then?" 
"His reputation hasn't fallen at all. If he says a loud 'No', quite a few Onmyouji in the agency might stop." 
"You're going to stop the terrorist attack with that?' 
"It's the most suitable method right now." 
"......I see. I understand. We'll have a huge advantage later if we can rope in Zenjirou. Good luck with that, Chief." 
Amami raised an eyebrow. "Later? And what does 'good luck with that' mean?" 
"It's because I have other things I need to do." 
He said that sentence matter-of-factly, but Natsume didn't miss the implications in it. 
"Eh? S-Sensei, you're not going to fight with us?" Tenma asked in a panic. 
Ohtomo didn't speak. Another restless atmosphere rose up in the warehouse where they were gathered. 
"......I knew something was up for you to suddenly come over here. Say it, what's your real goal for coming back?" Amami pointed out. Ohtomo smiled bitterly and said: 
"Chief, I originally wanted to speak with you alone...... I'll put it straight. I came to tell you all to just quietly stand back without forcing yourselves. I'll go deal with the Agency Chief and the Souma. Chief, you guys just need to keep hiding like this." 
"Wha--" 
What? The word left her mouth reflexively, but she was stunned again. Touji was the only one mostly unshaken, since he seemed to have anticipated this to some level. 
"Just you - no wait, are you saying that you're going to confront the Chief, the Souma, Miyachi, and the entire Onmyou Agency alone?" 
"Yes." A brief reply. 
"Do you think you can win?" 
"There was never a need to 'win'." 
"Then stopping the terrorist attack is enough?" 
"They were never plotting any terrorist attack in the first place." 
"What?" 
Ohtomo turned to Suzuka. "Suzuka-kun, can you come with me when I return to the Onmyou Agency?" 
Everyone present turned to look at Suzuka. 
"......A large-scale magic ritual......" Suzuka chose every word carefully. "......Perhaps it's magic with 'god summoning' at its core. The previous two spiritual disaster terrorist attacks might be parts of the ritual. As for the 'god' part of the magic...... it refers to the Souma clan's legendary ancestor and the ara-mitama guardian of Edo, Taira no Masakado......" 
"That's their goal right there. Dairenji Shidou plans to push the Phase Four into the next phase, Phase Five - the 'Final Phase'. The previous two spiritual disaster terrorist attacks, as well as this third one, were all experiments for that theory......" 
Judging by the 'next time is for real' that Yashamaru had once said to Suzuka, the terrorist attack this time would most likely be different from the past two. In other words, it would be much harder to warn people beforehand this time. 
As a result, they could only defeat the enemies on the other side...... If they didn't know the spell's composition, they couldn't obstruct it, so they could only defeat the caster directly... 
"I know the magic they're preparing." 
Ohtomo replied calmly. 
"It's the 'Tensou Chifu Ritual'." 
"T-Tensou Chifu Ritual!? B-But that--" 
"The same one you're thinking of. The Tsuchimikado ritual of worship. And the secret among secrets, even higher up than the Taizan Fukun Ritual." 
The Tsuchimikados' greatest secret ritual, the 'Tensou Chifu Ritual'. But it had been something from before Yakou's era. 
But if what the boy ara-mitama calling himself Ashiya Doman had said, he had been watching the world's changes since the Heian era. Naturally, he would have experienced the chaos during the Pacific War era 'first-hand'. 
The great spiritual disaster that had attacked the city during the war period was but a page of history to Natsume and the others. History constantly went on, and Natsume had no way of actually experiencing it with her less than twenty years of age. 
But if it were related to Harutora's past, she couldn't ignore it. Natsume asked: 
"W-Wait! But...... why? Why were the Souma trying to perform the 'Tensou Chifu Ritual' or whatever if they were following Yakou? Also, didn't the Tsuchimikado family only perform the Tensou Chifu Ritual for the emperor--" 

When she was halfway done speaking, Natsume's face paled as she realized something. 
"That's right, the Tensou Chifu Ritual was originally a purifying and life-extending ceremony held for the emperor. The Souma clan only performed it for their king - the 'New Emperor' Taira no Masakado. The Souma may be aiming to summon the ara-mitama Taira no Masakado. Also the fact that they're using the Tensou Chifu Ritual means that they're trying to lengthen its existence rather than going after a temporary 'channeling'. That might be Yakou's legacy." 
"............" 
Natsume stood there blankly, as if she couldn't hear anything. 
...Reviving Taira no Masakado? 
Was something like that possible? No, hadn't Yakou failed because it was impossible? Even so, were Chief Kurahashi, Takiko, and the others still trying for such a great challenge? 
Summoning a god into the world. It was some kind of madman's ravings. 
Ohtomo's confidence that he could go alone had come from Doman's information. He didn't need to fight head-on. If he only needed to impair the ceremony, maybe Ohtomo could do it alone. By further exposing the unjust actions of Kurahashi and the others, he might be able to defeat them. 
"...Please wait, Sensei." Touji, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth. "If you're going to go obstruct them with all your might, then that's fine. But even if you decide that, it's always better to have some more help. What you said just now makes it seem like we don't have a common enemy." 
"......You could also say that." 
"Why?" 
"Idiot, do I need to say that? Of course that's because it's dangerous." 
"Then we really can't just sit back and wait." 
"......The Phase Four from last time." 
"Hmm?" 
"That was something that Souma Takiko did. She did something almost like 'god summoning', and that's how things ended up." 
"Huh......!?" 
"Sorry, you can't do this unless you're an elite Onmyouji. My students have no chance." 
"But......" 
They hadn't imagined being rejected like this. The current Ohtomo was different from the Ohtomo-sensei from before. 
He didn't have that easygoingness. The past Ohtomo-sensei had been free-spirited even in a crisis. His principles were firm, but everything else was flexible and unrestrained. 
He had changed over this year and a half. 
"......What kind of joke is that?" 
Touji opened his mouth to retort again. "We have to hide because it's a Phase Four? Or is it because there's someone who can cause spiritual disasters at will? Please. I'll fight whatever comes, whether it's an oni or a Nue. It's Taira no Masakado, right? Of course there's going to be head-to-head fighting, right?" 
Touji balled a fist with no intention of backing down. 
Ohtomo raised an eyebrow. Before he had the chance to say anything, 
"Interesting." 
His shikigami Doman interjected. "Not bad, youngster, you're definitely a living spirit. Judging by your spirit, it seems that you have some strength too. Let me test you. Gozu, Mezu!" 
In the next moment, the two auras that poured out from his waist seeped into the warehouse and formed a man and a woman. 
Phase Three mobile spiritual disasters, 'Type-Ogres'. 
...W-What were these demonic auras? They were definitely the oni that had fought with Ohtomo-sensei on the academy building roof! 
Doman had revealed Gozu and Mezu to Ohtomo before, but at the time Doman had only called them 'shadows'. 
In other words - these were the real bodies! These were Ashiya Doman's shikigami!? 
"Fight with that youngster. Who's first?' 
 
"Me, me! I'm first, I'm first~~" 
"Hey, Priest!" Amami and Ohtomo shouted at the same time. 
But Touji grinned and slowly took off his bandanna. "Perfect. I have something I want to try out too." 
"Not a bad demeanor. Okay, start." 
Touji released his seal in the blink of an eye. 
"Third seal, release!" 
The demon bound inside Touji's body instantly awoke and demonic aura poured forth to cover his body, turning him into the form of a samurai. A pair of sharp horns and two fangs also appeared with his shout. 
It was Natsume's second time seeing him like that. She still felt shocked. The two oni, Ohtomo-sensei, and Doman were even more engrossed. 
"Wait, what's that!? What is that!?" 
"As I said, that's a living spirit!" 
In the next moment, the samurai charged straight at Gozu. The shockwave from his head-on-charge blew boxes away, and the walls and ceiling shook. 
Haaaaahhhh---!" 
Smashed onto the floor, Gozu let out an angered shout. "You goddamn brat! Die!" Flying into a rage, Gozu attacked Touji like a storm. Though his strength was surprising, his movements were overly monotonous, so Touji skillfully dodged his strikes and counterattacked. 
"What's wrong!? Is that all you've got?" 
"Graaaaahhhhh!" 
Gozu bellowed and his demonic aura swelled up even further into a ball larger than his body. Touji looked on fearlessly, the demonic power burning like a fire throughout his body. 
Not good. It wouldn't be good if this went on. Natsume thought this instinctively. 
"Ashiya Doman!" 
Ohtomo shouted loudly. 
"Alright." Doman smiled. "Well, no helping it, stop right there." 
Though Gozu looked completely as if he was about to charge forward, he stopped one second later. Raging killing intent showed in the look he gave Touji, but to a shikigami, the master's order was 'absolute'. 
After confirming that the opponent had restrained himself, Touji also let go of his strength. "Reboot." 
"......As I thought.' Touji panted for breath, looking at his hands and smiling in satisfaction. "I thought it was an illusion...... Looks like I really did become stronger, so strong that even I can't believe it." 
"...No good." 
Ohtomo's opinion still hadn't changed. 
"It's certainly a rare, extremely powerful strength, but...... You still can't use it for this." 
Touji angrily said "......What do you mean? If you want to say something, just say it!" 
"I mean what I said. It's still more convenient for me to act alone. Sorry, I still want to do things my own way. Doman." 
Doman started chanting an incantation. Ohtomo performed complicated steps alongside the black wind that the incantation whipped up. Far Step. A method of moving through the spirit flow. "Wait", Kyouko shouted. "I met her, Wakamiya Eri's little sister!" 
Ohtomo's expression changed, but in the next moment he melted into the black wind. 
The tornado vanished. 
Ohtomo, Doman, and the two oni disappeared.